


Tides Shifting

by TheCaillic



Category: H2O: Just Add Water
Genre: ...for now, Absent Parents, Coming of Age, Eventual Romance, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Joke Flirting, Mermaids, Transformation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-13 22:14:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29285844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCaillic/pseuds/TheCaillic
Summary: “I know it’s a stressful time, with high-school and growing up.”“Yes... high-school. That’s what it is”After an abrupt visit to the mysterious Mako Island, Cory Watsford and three other girls have been transformed into mermaids. The four of them form an unlikely friendship and powerful bond.Cory tries to remain calm when dealing with her new abilities, her growing feelings for one of her best friends, and things from her past coming back to bite her.Unfortunately for Cory; the world is dead set on not making things easy for her.
Relationships: Rikki Chadwick/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 4





	1. Daughters of the Land and Sea

“Cory!”

The 15-year-old looked up from her painting to see another girl standing in her driveway.

“Hey, Rikki.”

Rikki made her way into the garage where Cory was painting. 

“I was nearby and thought maybe you wanna hang out for a bit,” Rikki said. “But if you’re busy, that’s okay.”

“I was just giving this one a last look before putting it aside. Just let me grab my keys.” Cory pulled off the plastic gloves and ran inside to lock the house. 

The two teens started wandering around discussing random events that had been happening in their lives recently. They became so absorbed in their conversation; they didn’t notice that they had walked all the way to the harbour at the marina. 

Cory and Rikki had only known each other for about two months at this point but had managed to become quick friends. They had met each other when Cory was messing around near the waterfront and twisted her leg, causing her to fall in the water. Rikki thankfully had been nearby and jumped in to help her out. To say that Cory was embarrassed was an understatement. 

_ “Looks like a twisted ankle. I think you’ll be okay.” _

_ “Thanks. I’m Coralie by the way. Well, actually it’s Cory. No one’s called me Coralie since I was a toddler.” Cory said nervously as Rikki continued checking her foot. _

_ “Name’s Rikki.” the other girl said without looking up. _

_ “I don’t know what I would have done if you weren’t here.” _

_ Rikki looked up for a second. _

_ “No big deal.” _

_ “It was a pretty big deal to me.” Cory joked. “If you ever need anything, let me know. You know, just to repay the favour.” _

_ Rikki gave her a small smile. _

_ “I’ll keep that in mind.”  _

The two of them didn’t see each other again until a couple of days later when they passed each other at school. Cory always tried to give her a friendly wave. After a while, Rikki had started asking her to hang out at random times, and it eventually became the norm for the two of them.

“She’s the worst. She could at least-” Rikki stopped mid-rant when Cory halted and put her hand out in front of Rikki.

“What?” Rikki asked curiously. 

Cory pointed over to the docks. Where a tall brown haired teen was walking away from an inflatable boat.

“Zane left his Zodiac totally unattended.” Cory smiled. Rikki smiled back and nodded in understanding.

The two of them made their way over to the red boat. Looking around to make sure that no one saw them. 

“Get the spark plug,” Cory whispered while continuing keeping an eye out. 

Once Rikki pulled out the small silver piece, she motioned for Cory to run. The two of them got out of sight and waited for Zane to return. 

They watched as Zane and his friend, Nate, returned to find that his boat refused to start. Rikki and Cory had a good laugh when Zane let out a couple of curses and kicked it out of frustration. However, things went south when a girl walked by, and Zane called her over. Cory recognised her to be Cleo. Another teen, who was in the same year as Rikki and Cory. 

They talked for a bit before Cleo got into the boat. Looking like she was getting ready to pass Zane some tools. Zane processed to push the boat away from the dock with Cleo still in it.

“Why me? I didn't steal your spark plug!” Cleo shouted in frustration.

“Because you're here, Cleo. My dad will buy me another boat anyway. I tell you what if you get it going you can keep it.” Zane shouted back.

“We should do something, right?” Cory asked Rikki. 

Rikki nodded her head. 

“Just follow my lead.”

Rikki started rushing towards the boat, much to Cory’s surprise. After some brief hesitation, Cory followed after her. They both jumped off the dock to the zodiac. Each landing. One after the other. It caused Cleo to let out a surprised shriek.

“Hi, Cleo,” Cory said, while Rikki gave her a bemused look.

“Cory? Is this supposed to be some sort of rescue because there's a fatal flaw here I don't mean to state the obvious, but we're just floating out to sea all three of us?”

“How do I always manage to forget how chatty you are?” Cory jokingly asked as Rikki pulled out the spark plug.

“You two took that?” Cleo asked.

“Zane Bennett's a pig. Anything I can do to get under his skin can be a bad thing, now can it?” Rikki said as she moved to put the plug back in its proper place.

“Cool, thanks Rikki,” Cleo said happily.

Rikki looked up at her with a similar confused face as when Cleo screamed at them earlier.

“You know my name?” she asked.

“Yah well, I've seen you around school since you arrived.” 

Rikki didn’t say anything and placed a cover back over the boat’s engine.

“Oh I mean I meant to say hello and everything!” Cleo panicked.

“Hold on,” Rikki said as she moved the boat forward. Cleo and Cory both smiled as Rikki weaved the boat around the harbour. As they passed Zane, Rikki revved the engine. Causing the boy to be completely drenched with water. Cory and Cleo let out chuckles as they all floated away.

The three of them had huge smiles on their faces as they travelled down the waterways, and Cory and Cleo waved at other passing boats. As they were passing a canal, Cleo asked Rikki to slow down.

“Hey, Emma! Want a ride!” Cleo called to the blonde walking by.

“Are you licensed?” Emma asked Rikki.

“Are you my mother?” Rikki shot back.

“Come on, Emma. It will be fun.” Cory said. 

Emma seemed to think about for a second, then a small smile appeared on her face. She moved to hop onto the zodiac. Once she was aboard that girls, set off.

“Want to go out to sea?” Rikki said.

“Isn't that dangerous in a boat this sized?” Emma asked. 

“Chill out.” Rikki scoffed.

Rikki turned the boat out to the ocean. If it wasn’t for the adrenaline going through her system, Cory probably would have felt nervous about heading to open waters, but the joy she was feeling overshadowed any doubts in her mind. 

Unfortunately, that joy would diminish in a couple of hours when the boat stopped unexpectedly. Rikki kept trying to turn the engine back on while Cory nervously tapped her nails on her leg. 

“Are we chilled out yet?” Emma sarcastically asked.

“So? We’re floating. It's not like we're sinking.” Rikki said.

“Not yet,” Emma whispered under her breath.

“I think we're out of fuel, feel like paddling to that island,” Rikki said. Pointing to the nearby dryland. 

“Mako Island? Forget it.” Emma said. 

“No one goes there. It's surrounded by sharks... and reefs... and mangroves.” Cleo said nervously. 

“Why do you make mangroves out to be a bigger concern than sharks?” Cory asked. “I think we should go. Better than floating out here aimlessly.”

Rikki smiled and picked up the two oars. Passing one to Emma.

Once they got to Mako, they pulled the zodiac up onto the beach. So that it wouldn't float away while they weren’t looking. The last thing they needed was for this situation to get even worse by losing their only way back to the mainland.

“How are we ever going to get back home?” Cleo asked with a sad look. 

“Good question, Cleo. Ask your friends here.” Emma said snidely. 

“Hey, you chose to get on the boat. Don’t act all high and mighty.” Cory snapped back.

“I wasn’t the one who took this thing miles offshore.” Emma huffed. “You three are lucky I've got this.”

Emma moved to the boat and pulled a flip phone out of her bag. Cleo smiled at her friend.

“Emma's always really prepared,” Cleo said to Rikki. Which made Cory roll her eyes. 

“Oh, I'm so happy for her,” Rikki said in a mocking tone, which caused Emma to give her a dirty look.

“I'm not getting any signal we should get to higher ground.”

Emma headed off, with Cleo following close behind. Cory turned back to Rikki, who was still leaning against the boat. 

“Let’s go with them. We might find something weird.” Cory said playfully, as she turned to start walking. 

A small simple appeared on Rikki, and she ran to catch up with Cory. 

A few hours later, the four of them were all slowing, making their way further into the island, with Emma leading them to higher ground. Rikki let out another huff as they passed a small river. 

“Do you have any idea where you're going?” Rikki asked. 

“Just up I'm still not getting a signal,” Emma answered.

“Maybe we won't get a signal. What then? What if we can't call anyone? What if nobody finds us what then?” Cleo said. 

“We’ll signal for a boat or something,” Cory said. 

“Or we'll have to draw straws and decide which one of us the others will eat.” Rikki smiled. 

“That's not funny,” Emma said, angrily. 

“I'm relieving the tension!” 

“Don’t start, you two. Let’s just focus on getting home instead of bickering with each other.” Cory said firmly.

They continued on until they came across a small waterfall. Emma told everyone to mind their steps as Rikki and Cleo jumped across.

Cleo hesitated. “I can't do it, it's too slippery, there has to be another way.”

“Don’t worry. It’s not as far as it seems.” Cory told her, but Cleo just shut her eyes and shook her head.

“I can jump across with you if you want?” Cory said as she leapt back over the water. 

She held out her hand for Cleo to take. The other teen looked at it for a couple of seconds before nodding and grabbing hold of it. Cory gave her a confident smile and told her to jump on three. Cleo’s footing caused her to slip and tighten her grip on Cory’s hand. They both screamed as they fell down a path into a cave of some kind. 

The sounds of Emma and Rikki’s voices echoed down to them. Shouting their names.

Cleo let out a groan as she sat up. “I think we’re okay.” 

Cleo looked over to Cory. Other than a bit of pain in her wrist, Cory felt fine, so she gave Cleo a nod. 

“Yep, we’re all good,” Cory said.

“Can the two of you climb up?” Emma asked.

“I don’t think so,” Cory answered.

“Are you sure, come on just try?” 

“It's too steep and slippy,” Cory said, as she tried to get back up. Only to slide back down again.

Cory could vaguely hear Emma and Rikki talking. A few seconds later, there was the sound of feet scuffing, then Emma yelling as she fell down into the cave. Much like Cleo and Cory had.

“Are you two okay,” Emma asked, once she collected herself.

“My leg hurts a little,” Cleo said.

“There’s a bit of pain in my wrist,” Cory added.

“They’re probably just sprained,” Emma said after checking on them. 

Suddenly Rikki slid down to join them. Causing Emma to give yet another angry look.

“What are you doing here?” 

“Well, you came down.”

“You were meant to stay at the top and throw down a rope or something.”

“What am I a mind reader?” Rikki complained. 

“And with what rope?” Cory asked. Trying to defend her friend. “There wouldn’t be anything long enough or strong enough to pull us out.”

Rikki nodded her head and smiled.

“Exactly,” Rikki said. Glad that there was at least one person on her side.

This just made Emma roll her eyes at them in annoyance.

“Shouldn't we concentrate on getting out of here,” Cleo suggested.

“Yep.” Emma agreed. 

She got up to start looking around. Followed quickly by the other three. They started heading further into the cave. After a little while, Cory couldn’t help but think that it would be getting dark soon. She hoped that the tide wouldn’t pull the zodiac back into the ocean. Leaving them with nothing to paddle back home with, if the plan of calling or signalling for help didn’t work.

“There's no way out,” Rikki said, as the girls continued walking.

“Let’s try here,” Emma said as she made her way up what looked to be a small stairwell at the other side of the cave. 

A little while later, they noticed a shimmering reflection coming off the cave walls. They each entered a larger area, where they found a pool of water. It was a pretty sight. Cory looked up to see that night sky shining down on it. Which was what must have been giving the pool it’s out of the ordinary, bright blue colour.

Cory just started up in awe at the starry night sky. 

“Wow, this is like the cone of a volcano,” Rikki said with a bright smile.

“It's um... not going to erupt is it?” Cleo asked as she huddled towards Emma. 

Cory and Emma each give Cleo a look.

“It's been dormant for 20 thousand years. I think we're safe.” Emma reassured her friend. 

Cory moved towards the pool and started waving her hand through it. Emma moved along the edge and looked into the water with curiosity.

“Look, title rings, the level of the pool rises and falls,” Emma said. She kneeled down and started taking her shoes off.

“So?” Rikki asked in confusion. 

“So, it's connected to the ocean. There might be a way out.” Emma said with a proud smile that she seemed to make a lot when she was right.

As Emma got ready to jump in the water, Cory called out to her.

“Be careful you don’t know how far it’ll take to get back to the ocean.” 

“Trust me. I’ll be okay.”

Emma stepped down to an underwater step in the pool and drove in. Disappearing into the deep blue water.

A concerned look appeared on Cleo’s face. She stared at the water and shook her head.

“I’m not gonna like this.”

This made Cory remember that Cleo couldn’t swim. Cory felt herself cringe at the thought of Cleo having to do something that seemed to scare her so much. Cory moved to the edge of the pool and sat down. She hoped Emma came back okay. For all their sakes.

After a few minutes Cory, Cleo and Rikki were all sitting on the cave floor, waiting for Emma to come back. Cory had started lightly bouncing her leg as she got antsier. Cleo called out for Emma after another minute. Growing more concerned for her best friend’s safety.

“Relax, just give her a minute,” Rikki said. Not wanting Cleo to start panicking. 

“She’s right. Emma’s basically a professional. She can handle it.” Cory told her. Trying to keep Cleo calm as well as herself.

Right as Cory said this, Emma reappeared from the water.

Once Emma caught her breath, she smiled up at the other girls. “I was right. It's about a twenty-second swim to the reef outside straight through plenty of room. We can all fit.”

Cory and Rikki smiled back at her and started taking their shoes off. Cleo hesitated. Her eyes were darting back and forth between the other teens.

“Through there… no way,” Cleo said with shaking hands.

“Come on, Cleo. There's no other way out. You can do it.” Rikki said as she continued taking her shoes off.

Cory placed a comforting hand on Cleo's shoulder, but that didn’t seem to help much.

“I can't do it, and besides I can't swim.”

Everyone went silent. As Rikki and Cory had joined Emma in the water, they had convinced Cleo to at least take off her shoes, but once she looked at the water again, she went still. 

“Everything will be fine.” Emma tried reassuring her again. 

“How can you be sure?” Cleo asked. 

“We can’t, but we don’t have much of a choice, Cleo,” Cory said sincerely.

“What alternative do we have,” Rikki said. “Stay stuck down here forever.”

“Look, Cleo. It will only be for a little while, then you won’t have to get in the water again if you don’t want to.” Cory said as she swam over to the edge.

Cory raised her hand for Cleo to take, much like she had at the waterfall before. She let out a defeated sigh. After taking her hand, Cory started leading Cleo into the water. They slipped under for a second and quickly came back up. Cory was careful to make sure that Cleo stayed afloat with her.

The four of them all nodded to each other. Silently checking if the others were ready to dive out of there. Suddenly the pool lit up. Sparkling bubbles were rising from the water floating towards the full moon. Looking kinda like fireflies.

“Wow,” Cleo said in wonder.

“Spooky,” Emma muttered. 

“Let’s just get out of here,” Cory said once the sparking had stopped. Finally having enough ‘adventure’ for one day.

“Okay, now take a deep breath,” Emma told them before going under once again. Followed by Rikki. 

Cory gave Cleo one last look. “On three?” 

Cleo nodded, and Cory started counting down. Once she reached three, they both took a deep breath and dived down. They swam through the tunnel with Cory holding on to Cleo, and Rikki staying close by if they needed help. Once the narrow cave started getting wider, they started swimming for the surface. Each girl let out a gasp as they breached the water.

“That was more than twenty seconds,” Cleo said. Still holding tightly on Cory.

“Relax! We made it, didn't we?” Rikki said. Gesturing to the open sea around them. 

“You did great,” Cory said to Cleo.

“I'm proud of you, Cleo. I knew you could do it.” This made Cleo smile.

Out of nowhere, a blinding light was pointed at them. The girls covered their eyes. Trying to avoid looking directly into the bright light.

“This is the water police please make your way to the boarding ladder at the rear of the boat.” 

Rikki and Cleo started swimming over, while Cory and Cleo took one last look towards Mako. 

“Come on,” Cory said. Helping Cleo swim to the boat.

Once they had gotten back to town, the girls were told to wait as the water police sorted things out. Each of the girls’ families arrived to pick them up. Cory felt her blood go cold when she spotted her uncle with an annoyed look on his face.

She rushed over to him and apologised. He didn’t say anything as they walked home.

Once they walked through the front door, her uncle turned and stared at her.

“Explain what happened.” 

“I’m really sorry, Ellis-” 

“I don’t want an apology. I want to know what happened.” 

Cory explained how she had been hanging out with Rikki, and thought it would be a funny idea to steal the spark plug. They ran out of fuel when riding out to Mako Island, and being picked up by the water police. The mad look on her uncle's face didn’t waver once. 

“Do you have any idea what it was like to get a call at work telling me that my niece had gone missing after being seen riding out into the open ocean,” Ellis said pinching the bright of his nose in stress. 

Cory’s head dropped in shame. She shut her eyes tightly. “I’m so sorry, I promise I won’t do it again.”

“I sure hope not!” Ellis sighed. “Give me your keys, and go to your room. We’ll talk about this when it isn't one in the morning.” 

Cory reached for her shorts and panicked when she couldn’t find anything in her pockets. They must have fallen out when swimming out the cave. 

Ellis must have guessed what happened judging by the look on Cory’s face. 

“Just go to bed,” Ellis said. Sounding rather defeated. 

Cory rushed to her room and closed the door behind her. After getting changed out of her damp clothes, she slammed down on the bed. Trying not to cry. When failing to go to sleep, Cory turned to look out the window to the night sky. Hoping that the day had been a bad dream that she would wake up from.

A few hours later, the sun had risen, and Cory was staring her at her bedroom door. Debating if she should try talking to Ellis again. Cory couldn’t believe how stupid she had been in hindsight. The moment she saw an opportunity to mess with Zane, she took it without thinking. 

Cory’s thoughts were interrupted by a knocking on the door. 

“Um yeah?” 

The door opened, and Ellis made his way into the room. He didn’t have the annoyed look on his face anymore, but Cory could tell that he was still upset. 

“Right punishment…” Ellis said, rubbing the back of his head. “No games or painting for three weeks. You’ll be doing all the washing and vacuuming for three weeks too.”

Cory nodded her head. Ellis’ eyes softened. 

“And please, for the love of God. Don’t steal any more spark plugs.” 

“I swear I won’t,” Cory said quickly. 

Ellis let out a sigh and moved to sit next to his niece. “Cory, you seriously scared the living daylights out of me last night. For my own sake, and yours, don’t do anything like this again.”

Cory nodded again, and Ellis gave her a small smile. “Alright… I have to get back to work. You can get started on housework.” 

“I will! Thank you, Ellis.” Cory said as she gratefully hugged her uncle. Ellis returned the hug but reached behind her to grab something off her nightstand.

“This is mine for the next three weeks,” Ellis said. Shaking Cory’s DS at her. 

“You monster.” Cory smiled. Ellis smiled back and gave Cory’s hair a ruffle, then left the room. 

Cory got out of her pyjamas and got into some new clothes for the day. She moved about the house doing all her usual chores. When the first load of washing was done, Cory moved to take everything to the clothesline. Only once she took the wet clothes out of the machine and picked up the basket, she felt a weird feeling coming from her legs. She looked down, and there was a sudden flash. She opened her eyes to see that her legs seemed to be covered in sea green scales. 

Cory let out a yelp as she fell to the tiled floor of the laundry. “Ouch...” Cory looked behind her to see that she had some kind of tail. She just stared at it in shock for a few minutes. Once the surprise was gone, Cory started pulling herself across the floor. She reached up to the top of the broken dryer (that she and Ellis still couldn’t be bothered to fix), and grabbed at the towels sitting there. 

She started whipping the towel up and down her hands. Thankfully causing the tail to disappear. Cory leapt to her feet. And rushed to the front door. 

Emma

Cleo

Rikki

Did they know about this? Was it happening to them too? She had to find them. Maybe they knew what was going on. 

Cory opened the front door to find Rikki standing there, reaching for the doorknob. 

“Did you-” Cory started. 

“Something really weird just happened-”

“Emma and Cleo!” 

“Yeah, come on-!”

Rikki grabbed her hand, and Cory closed the door behind her. Later realising that she would have to break back into the house with her secret method. Cory led Rikki to Cleo’s house. Knowing where it was due to once having to visit because she was paired with Cleo for a school project.

Cory frantically knocked on the door. Cleo opened it, and her eyes went wide. 

“Thank goodness, you two are here! Come on! Emma waiting inside.”

Once all of the girls were inside, they started frantically telling each other about how they somehow grew tails that morning.

“It was blue and covered with scales,” Cleo said as she walked through the kitchen.

“Mine was green,” Cory told her.

“Why does it matter what colour they were!?” Emma shouted at them.

“I was water for a second,” Rikki said.

“I was a fish!” Cleo yelped.

“How the heck did this happen,” Cory whined.

“What's going on?” Emma said as she sat on a chair in the living room.

“That's what I wanna know,” Rikki said as she sat down next to Emma on the arm of the chair.

They all stopped to look around the room. Cory turned to Cleo. 

“Is anyone here?” she asked in a slightly panicky tone.

“No, my dad is at work, and my sister and mom are shopping.”

Once they knew no one could overhear them, Emma spoke up. “Okay, what happened to us?”

“About ten seconds after we touch water, we grow these..” Cory started gesturing wildly to her legs.

“And it vanishes when we're dry, and that's the same for you three, right?” Cleo asked. All three of them nodded. 

“The tails are like-” Cleo started, but stopped. Noting wanting to be the one to say it.

“Exactly like-” Emma continued, but stopped like Cleo. 

“But that would be crazy,” Cory said with a bewildered smile.

“We look like... mermaids.” Rikki finally said. 

“I told you before you're not funny.” Emma scolded her. Mermaids don't exist. That's just too weird.”

“Well, what else would you ca-” Cory started asking her but stopped when there was a knock at the door.

Everyone sat up straight and stared at the door. A Look of realisation appeared on her face.

“Oh no, it's Lewis. He's helping me with biology today.” Cleo got up from the couch and rushed to the door.

“Heyo.” Lewis said as he made his way into the house. “Cleo oh-” 

Lewis stopped when he stopped Emma, Rikki, and Cory. Who all gave him forced smiles. 

“Um… Did I get the time wrong?” Lewis asked as he walked into the kitchen.

“No, we said nine,” Cleo answered

“Oh…” 

“But sorry, Lewis. Something has come up.” 

“Like what?”

“Just something important,” Cleo said. She turned back to the three other girls, who all started shaking their heads at her.

“Buuuuut, not so important that you need to know about it.” Cleo put her hand on Lewis’ shoulder and started guiding him out of the house. “Sorry Lewis, I have to cancel.”

Lewis let out a confused ‘oh’ as he continued walking through the house. “Maybe some other time..” 

“Lewis, you’re smart, do you know anything about mermaids?” Cleo asked. 

Rikki rolled her eyes in disbelief. Emma just stared at the floor, and Cory covered her mouth to stop herself from saying some she would regret.

“No, not really.” 

“Oh okay, sorry bye,” Cleo closed the door behind Lewis and turned back to Emma, Rikki, and Cory. They were all now standing and staring her down. “.... What?” 

“Do you know anything about mermaids?” Rikki repeated in a mocking tone. “Are you crazy?!” 

“What about our constant head shaking told you that was a good idea,” Cory asked. 

“Cleo, this is really serious. Something strange has happened to us. We don't know-how, and we certainly don't know why.” Emma firmly told her.

“Well maybe-”

“No maybes. At least until we know what's going on. We can’t tell anyone about this.” Cory stated. 

A smile appeared on Rikki’s face. “There is a way for us to find out more.” 

“How?” Cleo asked. Looking curious.

“Go back in the water,” Rikki answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“No way. Not me. You said it yourself, Cory. I don’t even have to get in the water again if I don’t want to.” 

Cory silently cursed at herself as Cleo sat back in the armchair. If Cory knew what would happen at the time, then she definitely wouldn’t have said that. 

“I’m going,” Rikki said, proudly. “I just don't think I should go alone. Any volunteers?” 

Emma sighed and raised her hand. 

“I can’t. I still need to finish my daily punishments for going to the island.” Cory said. Sounding genuinely upset.

Rikki sighed. She really wanted Cory to come along. “Can you skip?” 

“Not this time, love.” Cory joked. “I’ll join you for the next one. You two can show around the place then.” 

Rikki made Rikki feel a lot better. “Absolutely.” She smiled.

“Before you go. Can I get your number?” Emma asked. Cory nodded, and the two exchanged phones to type their numbers into them.

Cory said her goodbyes and rushed out the door. She made it back into the house by reaching through a cat door that the previous owners installed in the laundry window. She sighed again when spotting the wet clothes, now shattered all over the floor. 

“Ooooh kaayyyy” Cory hopped over the clothes to get a pair of gloves from the kitchen. 

Cory had finished all the jobs inside the house she looked around the kitchen and saw that Ellis had left a shopping list on the bench. Cory stood there for a second. Wondering if it was worth going for such a small list of stuff.

Cory shrugged her shoulders. She really wanted to stretch her legs. She grabbed the list, a spare pair of keys, and some money from one of the draws. 

As Cory walked down the street to the shops, she started thinking about the whole mermaid situation. It must have had some to do with Mako. Was it forever, or would it disappear in a few days? Her pondering was stopped when Cory heard shouting to lookout. 

Cory looked up to see water falling toward her. She panicked and raised her hands in defence. When she felt nothing hit her, she slowly opened her eyes. The person who tried to warn her was climbing down from the roof of one of the shops. 

“Sorry bout that, sheila. Was cleaning the roof and knocked over a bucket.”

“It’s okay,” Cory said while looking around. Trying to work out why the water hadn’t hit her.

“Good thing that gust wind made it miss you.”

“The wind?” Cory turned to see that the water and the bucket had all landed behind her. 

Cory said a quick goodbye to the man and ran back home. Suddenly not feeling up to shopping. She paced around the living room. That was a coincidence. It was totally a coincidence despite that it hadn’t been windy like that all day.

Cory’s eyes turned to the backyard where the clothes were hanging. Swinging back and forth. What if? 

Cory went outside and held her hands up much like she had before. She felt the breeze pick up a bit and put her hands down. Causing it to stop. Cory stared at her hands in disbelief. She went back inside and sat down. Not trusting her shaking legs to keep her standing. After a while, she jumped out of the chair and started running out the door. Much like she had earlier that morning. 

Cory started wandering around the neighbourhood. Trying to work out if she should go back to Cleo’s place or try to find the other girls. She spotted Cleo and called out to her. Cleo turned to her, and a look of relief appeared on her face. 

“Hey!” They said at the same time, once they reached each other. 

“I’ve got magic powers!” Cory blurted out. 

“Me too! Come on we have to find Rikki and Emma!” 

The two of them ran all the way to Emma without stopping to take a breath. They noticed Emma and Rikki making their way to the front door and Cleo started shouting to them.

“Wait!” Both of the blondes turned to look in surprise. “You'll never believe what just happened!” 

Cory and Cleo made their way over to them. Cleo took Emma by the shoulder, and Cory did the same for Rikki. 

Once they were upstairs, Cleo asked Cory to get some water. Cory rushed to the bathroom to grab three glasses and filled them up. Being careful not to get any on herself. She placed them down on Emma’s desk and took a seat in a nearby chair. 

Everyone looked to Cleo. She raised her hand and started slowly turning it. The water started to move and rise upwards. 

“And it grows even more,” Cleo told them without taking her eyes off the water.

“Where’s the extra water coming from?” Rikki wondered. 

“Maybe it’s stretching. Kinda like blue tact.” Cory said, not entirely sure. 

Cleo turned and shrugged “I don’t know.” The moment she said this, the water started falling towards Emma. Her eyes went wide, and she put her hand up to shield herself. She looked up to see that the water had become frozen solid. 

“Did I do that?”

“It wasn’t me,” Cleo said. Shaking her head.

Cory let out a surprised laugh. Leaning further back in the chair.

“Okay, this is over the top I'm getting tingles now,” Rikki said, while she smiled like a maniac. “Cory! Can you do anything?”

“Umm,” Cory thought for a second. She probably couldn’t control the wind very well from inside, but got a sudden feeling. “Hold on. I want to try something.” 

Cory picked up one of the other glasses and started twirling her finger above the water. After a couple of seconds, the water started spinning around like a tiny whirlpool. The girls all stared at it, intrigued at what was going on. 

“I think I could do that with wind if I wanted.”

They all smiled and looked over to Rikki. She started making hand gestures at the last glass-like Spiderman or jazz hands, but nothing happened.

“No fair! Why don't I get to do the cool stuff?”

“Maybe it’s a panic reaction kind of thing. Or maybe it will take a little longer to appear for you?” Cory said, and Rikki gave a disheartened shrug.

“I don't think cool is the word,” Cleo spoke up. ”It's scary, but you should have seen the look on Zane's face.” 

Cory and Rikki both smiled at Cleo and chuckled at the thought of it. Emma didn’t seem to find so amusing. 

“This isn't funny we've got to keep this a secret from everyone, we could end up dissected,” Emma said. Making Rikki roll her eyes again.

“Or in the circus.” Cory recoiled at the thought. 

“So this secret? It’s between the four of us?” Cleo asked. 

“Our secret. Our responsibility. Whatever happens, we're in this together.” Emma stated. 

“Doesn’t mean we’re married, does it?” Rikki asked. 

“So sudden, Rikki. Geez.” Cory joked. 

“That’s not what I m-” Rikki stopped when she realised it was a joke.

Emma gave a small laugh when seeing Rikki get a bit flustered. “Now that was actually funny.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!
> 
> If you want to see more of this fic please comment and tell me what you thought of it. And If you want to see WIP content for Cory visit my tumblr @thecaillic
> 
> Please and Thank You!


	2. A Dip in the Pool

Cory felt a rush of adrenaline as she drifted through the water. The feeling of floating through the calm ocean was amazing. Her eyes looked down to the coral reefs growing from the seafloor rocks below. She swam down to get a closer look. Seeing fish of different shapes, sizes, and colours going about their business. 

She spotted a bright red tail floating by and moved to catch up to Rikki. They both grinned at each other. Continuing to swim through the sea. 

Rikki had gotten Cory up early that morning. Hoping to finally get her out for the swim, she promised her at Cleo’s house. Since Ellis was still on call at the fire station, Cory figured it would be fine to go out for a quick swim before school.

Cory continued to weave around the water. Using her hands to help steer her in the direction she wanted to go. Her bright auburn hair flowed behind her back until she slowed when Rikki pointed something out to her.

A dolphin had started swimming up to them. Making high pitched whistles as if it was saying hello. Rikki and Cory beamed at the sight of the dolphin swam away from them. Cory pointed towards the surface. Silently telling Rikki, she was going for air. Rikki nodded and followed her.

After a little while, they headed back to the beach to dry off. When seeing that Cleo had sent them each a text, they started heading to her place.

“Wow,” Cory said in amazement as the two of them walked up the beach. 

“I know.” Rikki agreed. 

“I mean…” Cory shook her head. Trying to find the right words. “Just wow!”

Rikki laughed at her friend's reaction. Understanding completely.

“And look!” Cory opened her palm to reveal a small silver key attached to a little orange dumbo octopus keyring. “Found it when we swam by Mako.” 

Rikki let out a sarcastic sigh of relief and placed her arm around Cory’s shoulders. 

One walk later, and they were both lying on Cleo’s bed. Stretching out across the sheets. With Rikki laying on her back and Cory laying face down on her belly. The smiles never leaving their faces. Emma sat at the edge of the bed while Cleo made her way out of the bathroom. Holding a sizeable squeezable tube.

“This is a catastrophe of the highest order!” Cleo exclaimed. Moving to rest her arms on the frame of the bed. “Moisturiser contains mostly water.”

This didn’t really occur to Cory. Rikki had knocked on her door so early that morning. She didn’t even have a chance to try anything like putting on moisturiser. 

“If dolphins could swim for miles,” Rikki thought out loud. Completely ignoring Cleo’s complaint. “So can we?”

“Betcha if we tried, we could go even further,” Cory said as she twisted her body so that she could lay on her back like Rikki. 

“We can never moisturise ever again,” Cleo said. Shaking the bottle at them. Trying to get the other girls to understand why she was so upset. 

Emma had been unusually quiet the whole time. She was just sitting there, listening to Cleo’s rants.

Rikki turned her head to look Cory in the eye. “We could swim all the way to Fiji.” 

Cory let out a small giggle at the thought of that. Rikki turned to Cleo and Emma. Hoping they would find the idea as cool as Cory did. “Could you imagine that?” 

“Our skin will be dry and wrinkly,” Cleo said in concern. “We’ll be geriatrics by the time we’re 21!” 

“I missed training today,” Emma spoke up. Sounding a bit defeated. “First time in six years.”

Cory felt a wave of sadness wash over her at the thought of Emma not being able to swim competitively anymore.

“See?! See how bad this is?” Cleo said to Cory and Rikki while gesturing to Emma.

Cory rubbed her eyes. Slowing starting to see Cleo’s point.

“We have to tell someone,” Cleo said. Wanting this whole situation to just go away. “Our parents, a doctor…”

“And end a mermaid in a straitjacket, with moisturised skin?” Rikki argued back. She shook her head. “No way.”

“No one can know about this. We have no idea how they would react.” Cory said.

Emma got up from the bed and made her way over to Cleo. “Rikki and Cory are right, Cleo. We can’t tell anyone.”

“Not even Mum?” Cleo asked in disbelief. 

“No,” Emma told her best friend. ”No parents.”

“But I tell Mum everything,” Cleo said. Confident that telling her mother it would be fine.

“Well, not this time.”

“We can’t risk it, Cleo,” Cory said, leaning up from the bed. “We don’t know how people will react. ” 

Emma nodded and rubbed Cleo’s shoulder sympathetically. “We’d be locked up, Cleo.” 

Emma wanted to tell her parents just as much Cleo but knew that Cory was right. They’d have no idea how people would react, and she didn’t want to risk it.

“Why would we be locked up?” Cleo asked. 

“Because we’re different,” Emma explained. Hoping Cleo would start to understand. “Because we can do things that other girls can’t do or even because they’d be scared of us.”

Cleo thought about it a second, then let out a defeated sigh. “Fine, I won’t tell anyone… Except Lewis.”

Cleo looked down, trying not to let the other see the smile on her face. Cory shook her head. Knowing what was going through Cleo’s mind. 

Rikki rolled her eyes. “No, Cleo. Not Lewis, not anyone.” 

“Okay, okay.” Cleo nodded her head but still didn’t look a hundred percent convinced. “Don’t worry, I’m really good at keeping secrets.”

Cleo beamed at them and tossed the moisturiser back into her toiletry bag. Cory, Rikki and Emma all give each other concerned looks. Getting the feeling that Cleo was as great a secret keeper as she claimed.

Cory couldn’t help but think about what would happen if she did tell her uncle about what really went on during the full moon that night. She knew he wouldn’t lock her up or send her to a lab. Nothing like that, but he had always been protective of Cory after her dad’s accident. Cory just didn’t want to scare him. 

In the end, she decided it was best to keep the secret. If she was the only one to become a mermaid, she would have reconsidered, but it wasn’t only about her. Cory had to think about Rikki, Emma and Cleo and what was best for all four of them. 

A couple of days later, Cory said goodbye to her friends as the school bell rang. She found Rikki, Emma and Cleo by their lockers. Cory was leaning against the side of Emma’s locker when she heard the voice of Miriam heading towards them. 

“It’s party time, people! No excuses,” She called in an overly peppy tone. “In honour of our very own surfing god, the beautiful Byron, for winning his special prize.”

“What prize?” Cleo asked curiously. 

“Whatever it is, they give out for surfing.” Miriam shrugged. 

“The Coast Surf Classic,” Emma told Cleo. “He won by a mile.”

“I was having a spray tan-” Miriam told them. 

“As you do.” Cory joked. 

“But I’m sure he was amazing.” Miriam continued after giving Cory a dirty look. “Cory, Rikki. I’m sure I have some blanks.” 

“Do you really?” Cory said with a forced smile that she dropped seconds later. “Don’t bother.”

“Sorry. I’ll be flossing my teeth that night.” Rikki said. Causing Miriam to walk away with an annoyed look on her face. 

As Lewis made his way over to Cleo, Rikki gave Cory a pleased look while Emma shook her disapprovingly at them. 

Later on, the girls walked home from school together. Cleo began to talk about Miriam’s upcoming party. Lamenting that they couldn’t go.

“It’s so un-cool to miss one of Miriam’s parties,” Cleo complained as she turned to walk backwards to face the other girls. “She won’t ask us ever again.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Cory commented. 

“Yeah. If anything, that’s a plus.” Rikki countered. 

“It’s a pool party.“ Cleo said. “I know it’s dangerous, but maybe if I told Lewis about us, he could look out for us?” 

“Again with Lewis?” Cory sighed. “We already agreed not to tell anyone.“

“You did the right thing, Cleo,” Rikki said, getting a bit tired of Cleo trying to make excuses for Lewis. “None of us are going.”

Emma stopped. “No, wait. I think we should go.”

“... Why?” Cory asked. 

“For Byron, not for Miriam.” Emma smiled. “Surfing is just like swimming; it takes a lot of hard work and training. You need to know everyone’s supporting you.” 

“You like Byron, don’t you?” Rikki teased. 

Emma chuckled and started walking again. “No way.”

Cory raised an eyebrow. “The smile on your face says otherwise.”

“You sound like an ad for breakfast cereal.” Rikki joked. 

“Well, if we learn more about what’s happening to us, we might be able to control it enough to go to the party.”

“Really?!” Cleo exclaimed.

Cory let out another sigh. In all honesty, she really wasn’t interested in going to the party. She didn’t see a point in hanging out with people she didn’t talk to.

“What's there to learn?” Rikki said.” We touch water, and ten seconds later, we grow tails.”

“Maybe it’s about developing some discipline.” Emma began. “Learning some control.” 

“I don’t think discipline is in Rikki’s dictionary.” Cory joked. Rikki responded by giving her a friendly shove.

“Control? That would be perfect,” Cleo said happily. “Then we could go to the party! I’ll text Lewis.”

“Yaaay,” Cory said in a deadpan tone while Cleo pulled out her phone. 

“You do realise you’re going to have to swim to test this theory?” Rikki said while gesturing to the sea.

The girls had been trying to get Cleo back in the water since finding out about their tails. She stubbornly refused each time.

“What?” Cleo slouched her shoulders in disappointment. “No way. Forget it.”

Cleo put her phone away and started walking again. After all giving each other another look, Cory, Rikki, and Emma followed after her.

They managed to drag Cleo down to the beach after changing her mind again. Only to have her start sulking when seeing the water. The girls started trying to convince her to no avail.

“Come on. It’s not even deep here,” Rikki told the brunette. 

“No,” Cleo said. She had her knees tucked underneath her chin. Refusing to move.

“Please, Cleo. Nothings going to get better if you keep ignoring this.” Cory pleaded. 

“No,” Cleo repeated. The others keep looking at her. “No!”

“Fine,” Emma said. Shaking her head. “Come on, Rikki, Cory.” 

Cory and Rikki both sighed as they followed Emma over to the water.

“Control and discipline start with the mind. “Emma told them as Rikki and Cory each stood on either side of her in the water. “So, concentrate.” 

Cory didn’t say anything but had a feeling that it wasn’t going to be that simple. 

“No tail, no tail, no tail,” Emma started repeating to herself. Rikki and Cory looked at each other and started doing the same. Hoping for something good. 

Unfortunately, after a few seconds, the girls turned to water for a moment causing the tails to appear. “No tail-” They said one more time before falling onto the wet sand. Cory lifted herself up with her elbows, and a disappointed frown appeared on her face as a wave hit the backside of her head. 

Cleo, who was watching from the beach. Had an even more disappointed look on her face. Realising that the idea wouldn’t work. Rikki spotted Lewis walking past Cleo and motioned for Emma and Cory to hide. They were able to get behind a large rock before Lewis spotted them. With nothing but their heads in site. 

“Who leaked information?” Lewis joked, turning to Cleo. “This is my secret, highly classified fishing spot. Someone must have blabbed.”

“Sorry.” Cleo apologised. 

Rikki and Emma gave each other a look while Cory narrowed her eyes at Cleo in suspicion. 

“It's fine,” Lewis told her. “Hey, I got your message about going to the party.”

“Oh,” Cleo cringed. Trying to avoid eye contact with any of the four people looking at her. “That was an old message. I’m not going anymore, too much homework.”

“Okay,” Lewis nodded. He placed his fishing gear on the sand. “Well, I might just join you all for a swim then.”

Cory’s eyes went wide. Her brain suddenly stopped working, and she turned to Emma, who was also struggling to come up with a good excuse.

“We’re naked, Lewis,” Rikki said out of nowhere. 

Cory let out a surprised ‘eh’ sound but quickly started nodding along with Emma. 

Lewis stopped. With a bit of an awkward look on his face. “Just a quick dip, then?”

Cory frowned at him. “Nooo, I don’t think so.”

“Goodbye, Lewis,” Emma said to him. Her tone made it very clear for Lewis to leave. 

“The offer was there,” Lewis stated as he leaned down to grab his equipment. He wandered off the beach. Slightly annoyed about not being able to fish in his secret spot.

Rikki, Emma and Cory all collectively let out a sigh of relief. 

The girls later decided to head over to Emma’s place after their failed experiment. They each made their way into the kitchen. Where Cleo headed for the sink. Emma went to the fridge. Rikki leaned against the counter, and Cory sat down at the bench. 

“We’re never gonna be invited anywhere cool ever again,” Cleo complained again. Cory felt a twitch of annoyance at having to hear this same speech again. ”And why? Because we’ve got tails.”

“My swimming career is over,” Emma said as she grabbed a carton of juice out of the fridge. 

Cleo placed a glass of water next to her and stopped to think for a second. 

“I just have one question. Why me? I didn’t ask for any of this to happen.” Cleo said as she used her powers to float a bubble of water into her mouth. 

“You think you’ve got problems? I’ve been training to be a swimmer since I was six months old.” Emma stressed again. She placed a paddle pop stick in her glass of juice. Then made it freeze instantly.

Cory let out a sigh and placed her hands on her cheeks. Not really knowing what to say to either of the girls anymore. Cleo seemed pretty dead set on not listening to a word she said. 

“Well, say goodbye to that dream because we’re mer-freaks now.” Cleo huffed. 

Emma pulled out the frozen juice and started licking it with a sad look on her face. 

Rikki looked between them with a look of disbelief and annoyance. “You two are unbelievable. Look at yourselves!”

Rikki turned to Cleo. “You’re drinking water from mid-air!” She then made her way over to Emma. “And Emma, you just made an instant icy pole.”

Rikki walked out of the kitchen. She stood next to Cory and continued to rant. “Anybody else would love to be able to do that. You’ve both got these amazing powers, and all you do is whinge, whinge, whinge.”

Cory stood up. “Rikki’s right. I’m in the same boat as you two, and you don’t hear me complaining, do you?” Cory continued. “We’re all having to give up things. We’re all making sacrifices.”

Cory remembered back to her uncle and how much it was eating away at her to not tell him. As well as her painting. She hadn’t even tried painting since she got back from Mako. She was too scared to find out the answer to whether her paints were water enough to trigger her transformation. 

“Rikki doesn’t even have a power. No added benefit to this situation and she hasn’t complained once.”

“Well, I’ve had enough. I don’t want to hang around with whingers.” Rikki turned to Cory. “Care to join me, Cory?”

Cory thought about it for a second, then took Rikki’s hand. She was fed up with the complaints. She and Rikki made their way out the door without another word. 

The next day Cory was standing in the bathroom, brushing the knots out of her hair. Her mornings had become all the more exhausting with the tail. She never realised how much of a difference having a bathtub could make in one’s life. Cory’s morning showers now had her crawling up into a ball to fit her large tail into the small shower space. She was slowly getting used to it, but it was still a bit tiresome.

She had agreed to meet Rikki at the Juice-Net Café. But she didn't need to be there another hour or so.

Cory made her way out to the kitchen. Where Ellis was eating away at his breakfast. They gave each other a hello as Cory grabbed a muesli bar out of the cupboard to munch on. 

“I’m gonna get a replacement for your key today,” Ellis told her.

Cory suddenly remembered her swim with Rikki the other day. She told Ellis to wait and ran to her room to grab her received house key. 

“I thought you said you lost it when swimming out of Mako?” Ellis said, taking the key to give it a look.

“OH! Um well,” Cory tried to come up with an excuse. “It turns out it fell out of my pocket on the boat. The water police returned it yesterday when you were at work.”

Ellis stared at her and passed the key back. “Alllll right. That’s convenient.” 

“Sure is! Don’t have to bother wasting money now.” Cory said a bit too loudly. 

“So, what’s going on with you?” Ellis asked. 

“What do you mean?” Cory nervously asked back. 

“I dunno. You seem a bit nervous lately.” 

Cory paused, then spoke up. “It’s my new friends.”

“The pirates?” 

Cory let out a laugh. “Yeah them. We’re having a spat at each other… About a school project,” Cory added. Trying not to reveal too much. “Emma and Cleo won’t stop complaining about it.”

Ellis shrugged his shoulders. “Not much they can do about it.”

“Exactly!” Cory exclaimed. “I try to help, but it feels like they won’t listen to me.”

“If they’re not careful, they’ll regret it later. Keep trying. They’ll come around.”

Cory let out a sigh and thanked her uncle. 

Ellis looked at her for a second but turned back to his breakfast. He found it a bit odd how much Cory was getting worked up about a group project. She didn’t usually care that much about things like that. 

An hour later, Cory headed to the juice café. She spotted Rikki already sitting in one of the booths. She made her way over.

“Hello, beautiful.”

Rikki looked up and smiled back at Cory. She told her to have a seat. The two started discussing when to go swimming next. They were interrupted when Cory felt a tap on her shoulder. 

“Cory, Rikki, can I sit?” Lewis asked. Looking a bit scared.

An irritated look appeared on Rikki's face when seeing Lewis. “I certainly hope so. Just not with us.”

Cory gave Rikki a ‘be nice’ look as Lewis ignored Rikki’s comment and sat next to Cory. Unexpectedly forcing her to shuffle along. 

“I know we've had our differences. Um…” Lewis stopped mid-sentence when a waiter placed a coke in front of him. “Thanks. But I want to know what’s wrong with Cleo.”

“Why are you asking us?” Cory said. 

“And what makes you think there’s anything wrong?” Rikki added. 

“Well, I asked her to go to Miriam’s party like a hundred times,” Lewis explained. “And every time she’s changed her mind. “

“We haven’t seen her. Maybe something personal keeps coming up.” Cory told him. 

“Or maybe she doesn’t like you?” Rikki sarcastically asked. Pointing a finger at him. “Did you think about that?”

“Yes. Actually, it did cross my mind.” Lewis said with a sad nod, which quickly changed to a smile. “But then I thought, oh no, she hangs around you two, so her standards must be pretty low.”

“Okay. I think you just outstayed your welcome.” Cory said. Offended by Lewis’ comment. 

“Goodbye, Lewis,” Rikki said, gritting her teeth. She started tapping her fingers on the table. Just wanting Lewis to go away.

“Can you tell me what’s wrong or not?” Lewis pushed. 

Cory snorted. “Why should we?”

“Please?” Lewis didn’t back down. “I know something’s going on.”

Rikki looked Lewis dead in the eyes. “We’re not even speaking to her at the moment, okay?” She curled her hand into a fist. “We just wanna be alone right now, so if you could just…”

Suddenly the coke in front of Rikki and Lewis started bubbling and steam. 

“What the?” Lewis explained as she tried picking up the glass, only to put it right back down. “It’s hot! Is this somebody’s idea of a joke?”

Rikki and Cory shared a look then at Rikki’s fist. Cory started pushing Lewis out of the booth. 

“Sorry Lewis, we have to go. Hope the stuff with Cleo works out.” Cory said to Lewis as Rikki exited the café. 

Once they were a reasonable distance away, Rikki turned to Cory. “I’ve got a power.”

Rikki and Cory grinned and laughed at each other like excited little girls. “Come on! I’ve got to try it again.” Rikki said, running off. 

They found some puddles of water on the beach. Rikki reached out her hand, and the small pool started to bubble like it had at the café. She closed her fist, causing the water to get even warmer then turn to steam. 

“We should tell Emma!” Cory said, pulling her phone out of her pocket.

“Good idea. I need to see the look on her face.” 

Cory found Emma’s number and told her to meet them at the canals they picked her up from in the zodiac. 

Cory and Rikki leaned against the railing as they waited for Emma. A few minutes passed by, and Emma came walking down the stairs. 

“I’m glad you called,” Emma said sincerely. “I’m sorry I was talking about all that negative stuff before. I’m not normally like that. It’s just that I was...”

“Em, It’s cool,” Rikki told her. 

Cory took Emma’s hand. “Rikki has to show you something.”

Cory and Rikki took Emma to the same rock that they were hiding on the other day. The three of them sat side by side in their mermaid forms. Rikki and Cory were buzzing with excitement. Making Emma all the more interested in what was going on. 

“Okay, I’m officially curious,” Emma said. “What did you want to show me?”

None of them realised that Lewis was walking right up to them. With his fishing gear in hand. 

“Is that you guys?” Lewis called out. Causing the girls to lean down to hide as much of their bodies as possible. Lewis noticed them ducking. “Are you naked again?”

“Umm,” Rikki glanced towards her tail. “We’re having a bit of a girl talk, Lewis.”

Lewis looked uncomfortable again. “But are you naked?”

“Go away, Lewis!” Cory told him. 

“No, no,” Lewis stubbornly told her. “I’m here to fish. I’m having withdrawals. I need the relaxation. If anyone’s going, it’s you guys.”

“Don’t push it, Lewis!” Rikki told him in a warning tone. 

It was starting to feel like Lewis was everywhere they went. 

“Yeah, shouldn’t you be following Cleo around?” Emma questioned. 

“No. No way, I’m totally over that, trust me.” Lewis told him. Trying to sound like he didn’t care and wasn’t doing a good job of it. “I don’t know what’s going on with Cleo lately. She just can’t make up her mind.“

Lewis’ pocket beeped, and he pulled out his phone to see a new message from Cleo. “You see what I mean? It’s Cleo. She’s going to the party again!”

The three girls looked at each other in a panic. Knowing that something was going to go horribly wrong if Cleo was at that party.

“Lewis!” Emma shouted to him. “You’ve got to do us a favour.” She pleaded. “Make sure Cleo doesn’t go to the party on her own. Call her back!”

“No,” Lewis said. Shaking his head. “I’m here to fish.”

“Lewis, this is important,” Rikki shouted next. “She could be in trouble.”

“I am not some lackey.” Lewis raised the phone up to his ear once he dialled Cleo’s number. I am not some all-purpose servant. Do you really think you can tell me what to do and I’ll jump? He continued before hearing Cleo’s voicemail. “Her phone’s off.” 

“She could be in real trouble, Lewis!” Cory told him. “You like, don’t you?” 

“Well,” Lewis tried thinking of to say. “In a friendship kind of way.”

Cory rolled her eyes. “Well?”

Lewis slumped in defeat as he went to pick up his gear again. He turned around and started making his way back up the beach. 

Each of the girls started moving to get back to land. Rikki tried drying their tails with her powers. Which hurt a little but was much quicker than waiting in the sun. Rikki dried Cory first, and she rushed off as soon as she got her legs back.

She made it to Miriam’s place and ran in through the backdoor so she didn’t have to waste time talking to Miriam or the guests. Just as she stepped through the gate, she saw Cleo being thrown into the water by Zane, Nate, and a couple of other boys. 

She looked around to see if anyone had spotted her yet. When no one had their eyes on her, she concentrated on pushing the wind as forcefully towards the other kids as she could. When everyone noticed, they complained about the cold, and all started moving inside to get away from it. 

Rikki and Emma got there just as Lewis started helping Cleo out of the water. “Where is everyone?” Rikki asked Cory. 

“Inside. Follow me.” Cory led the blondes over to the back door area. Once they got there, they saw everyone mingling away. Emma quickly froze the door handle. Making sure no one could get out. 

They made their way back to Cleo and Lewis, trying to pull Cleo out of the pool. “Can you guys give me a hand?”

“We can’t,” Emma admitted. 

Rikki looked over to Emma and Cory. “If we get wet, we’ll grow tails too.”

Lewis stared at them in shock. “The three of you? All of you?! Seriously”

They nodded, and Lewis exhaled. Trying to pull Cleo out of the pool again. “Should have gone to the gym.” he joked. 

“What are we gonna do?” Cleo asked as Emma and Cory walked away to keep an eye out. 

Rikki was quick to dry Cleo off. Much like she had with Cory and Rikki before. Once the tail was gone, Cleo looked up at Rikki. 

“There you go,” Rikki grinned. “Stream dried.”

“You found your power!” Cleo said. Happy for her new friend. 

“Guys, what is going on!?” Lewis asked. 

“No time. We’ll tell you later.” Cory said. Making her way back over to them. 

Emma and Lewis helped Cleo to her feet, and the five of them made their way out of the backyard. Cory noticed that Rikki had stopped and turned back to see what she was up to. “Rikki?” She ran back and saw Rikki with her hand raised towards the pool. 

Cory couldn’t help but let out a laugh when seeing all the water boil away. “I never liked pool parties anyway.” Rikki shrugged. It made Cory roll her eyes and smile. 

Once they had caught up to the others, the group continued jogging along the beach. Wanting to get as far away from the crime scene as possible. They stopped when Lewis spotted Byron jog past with a surfboard under his arm. 

“Hey, Byron.”

“Hey, guys.” Byron gave them a friendly nod. His nose was covered in sunscreen. Ready for the warm sun. 

“Why aren't you at the party?” Emma asked. 

“Huh?” Byron said, confused. 

“Miriam put on a whole party for you. Did she even tell you about it?” Cory chuckled. 

“She’s the blonde one, right?” Byron guessed. “Parties aren’t really my thing. See you, guys. ”

Byron gave them a wave and headed towards the beach. 

“Nice board,” Emma said. 

“Nice pics.” Cleo continued, dreamily. 

“Nice attitude,” Rikki said as she turned to follow. 

“Nice.. hair.” Cory joked. Not really knowing what to say.

They later found another rock by the ocean and sat down to tell Lewis what was going on. Once they were done, Rikki turned her head towards Lewis. 

“This probably goes without saying, but if you tell, we maim you.”

To emphasise the point, Cory bumped her fist into her other hand in a threatening manner. 

“I’m not that stupid,” Lewis told them. “If anybody found out, you’d end up as science experiments.”

Everyone went quiet for a second until Emma spoke up. “I quit the swim team today.”

“Oh, Emma.” Cleo sympathised. “I know how much that means to you.”

Cory placed her hand on Emma’s shoulder to comfort her. Emma put her hand on top of Cory’s and sighed. “Still, what could I do?”

“This whole thing is just out of control,” Cleo complained. “It’s just too big.”

Lewis grinned and held up his hands. “Let me get this straight.” He pointed to Emma. “You freeze things. Then to Rikki. “You explode things.” Next Cory. “You control the wind.” Finally, Rikki “And you boil things.” 

All of them smiled, but Cleo’s was a bit more forced than the others. 

“And you all grow tails!” Lewis finished. 

“It’s bizarre, to say the least,” Emma said. 

“I think it’s wild.” Cory said with an electric look in her eye.” There are a few cons, but overall it’s kinda neat.”

“It’s... it’s,” Cleo started but hesitated. “I don’t have a word for it.”

Rikki stood up from her spot. “I do. Four of them.” She said profoundly. “Totally absolutely, amazingly, awesome and fantastic. 

Emma and Cory laughed while Cleo continued to grimace.

The whole situation was far from perfect, but one thing Cory believed was that if you focus too much on the past, you’ll get stuck in it. She chose to look at the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you all like that High School Musical reference in the title?
> 
> I was going to have an extra sub plot where Cory accuses Cleo of bringing them to that part of the beach to get caught by Lewis on purpose, but I felt a little mean spirited and extreme for the second episode of the series. 
> 
> Remember to comment so that I can keep up inspiration for this story.


	3. Swimming Lessons

Cory, Rikki and Emma sat around one of the tables outside the usual café. Smiling as Lewis made his way over to them. 

“You won’t believe it.” Emma boasted. “We timed ourselves, and guess how long we can hold our breath for.”

“Fifteen minutes!” Cory finished proudly. Raising her hand to high-five Emma and Rikki. 

“That’s impressive.” Lewis nodded. 

Rikki raised her chin. “Yep, it’s pretty cool.”

Cory’s mind flashed back to it. They had only tried it three times with the third attempt lasting the fifteen minutes.”

“I think with more practice, we could stay down for even longer,” Cory said. 

“Oh, absolutely,” Emma said with no doubts.

“You two are so on.” Rikki challenged them.

“Are you sure you can keep up?” Cory asked the two of them.

Emma turned to Cory and smiled. “You think you can beat me?” She asked. 

“I can take the two of you on.” Cory told them.

“Bring it on!” Rikki said confidentiality.

"You guys must be jumping out of your skin about this stuff,” Lewis commented. Feeling the excitement radiating off the girls. 

“Yeah,” Emma nodded, but then remembered someone.” Well… three of us are.”

Just as Emma said this, Lewis looked out of the corner of his eye to see Cleo approaching the table. Causing his face to light up. 

“Hey, Cleo. Guess what?” Lewis grinned. “These guys can hold their breath for 15 minutes!” 

“Lewis!” Rikki and Emma hissed at him. 

“Not so loud.” Cory finished. 

“Sorry.” Lewis apologised. They didn’t want anyone to hear the wrong things when they were in public. 

Cleo sat down in the remaining chair. “What’s going on?. She asked. 

“We’ve been, you know, swimming,” Emma told her. Hoping to catch the brunettes interest. But Cleo just nodded in response. 

“It’s the best thing.” Rikki spoke up.” It’s out of this world.”

“You’re welcome to join us, remember?” Cory asked. Really wanting to give Cleo a chance to see how amazing it could be. “The reefs are gorgeous.”

“That’s great,” Cleo said with a fake smile. Dampening Cory’s spirit a little. “So, has anyone been able to finish the calculus homework?” Question seven’s a nightmare. 

“What’s calculus?” Cory joked.

“We missed you this morning,” Emma told Cleo. Wondering why she hadn’t responded to any of their messages. “Why weren’t you answering your phone?”

“And that project on geography. That’s due Thursday.” Cleo continued. Pretending that Emma didn’t say anything. “We really need to get together on that one.”

Cory shook her head and didn’t say anything. Rikki leaned forward on her elbows. “Listen, Cleo. Whatever’s happened to us is incredible.” Rikki told her. “You’ve got to come out with us. The water is amazing.”

“Just once, Cleo. Please?” Cory pleaded. 

“I’m not doing it, okay?” Cleo told her, firmly. “You told me I don’t have to get in the water again if I don’t want to. So stop bugging me about it.” 

This caused Cory to go quiet again as Cleo got up and left. As much as it bothered her, Cleo had every right to refuse to go into the water. 

“She’s gonna hold that over your head forever,” Rikki told Cory. 

Cory gave her a nod. “Well, if I knew we were gonna become mermaids, I’d have never said it. Then again, there’s a lot of things I wouldn't have done.” She joked.

“There has to be something we can do,” Emma said with a concentrated look on her face. “She can overcome this. I know she can.”

“But how?” Rikki asked. 

“I don’t know yet.” Emma sighed.

The day continued on with the girls heading to school. Cory, Rikki and Emma didn’t see much of Cleo. Mostly due to not having the same classes that day. Before heading to school, they justified to Lewis that he tried talking to Cleo. 

As they were making their way out of the science room, they spotted Lewis making his way over to them with a disappointed look on his face. 

“You bombed out, right?” Rikki commented. 

“Nah, she’s just taking a little time to… Yeah, I bombed out.” Lewis deadpanned. 

The girls nodded their heads in disappointment until they each spotted Cleo standing in the middle of the outside stairwell. With an awkward look on her face. Lewis turned his head to see what they were looking at, but hickey turned back. “Oh. I am pretty sure she doesn’t want to talk about it.”

“Forget it, Lewis,” Emma said. Not backing down. “We can deal with this. It’s a girl thing.”

The three of them made their way up the stairs to Cleo. Who made her way over the rail to avoid looking at them. 

“Cleo?” Emma said as she moved to stand on Cleo’s right. While Cory stood to the left and Rikki stood behind her. “About this whole… mermaid business.“ Emma whispered.

“There are more important things in life than seeing how long you can hold your breath for and frolicking with the dolphins,” Cleo stated. 

Cory let out a fake gasp at Cleo’s words.

“I don’t frolic. I glide.” Rikki protested. 

“Whatever.” Cleo shook her head. “It’s not important. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“How can you say that?” Emma questioned. “This is the most amazing thing that’s ever happened to us.”

“Cleo, I know what I said on Mako,” Cory explained. “But it was different then. What has happened is a one in a million chance. Aren’t you just a little curious about it?”

“Well,” Cleo thought for a second. “What about the turtles?”

Cory gave her a confused look. “Like… as a concept?”

“Apparently, a sea turtle got caught in a fishing net this morning.” Cleo clarified. “THAT’S important.”

Rikki didn’t like Cleo’s tone. “I don’t believe this! You’re such a hypocrite!” Rikki smiled. 

“Rikki, come on.” Cory tried scolding her friend. 

“No, Cory. Think about it. Cleo’s dad is a fisherman.” Rikki turned to look at Cleo. “His nets are the ones trapping the turtles.”

Cleo shook her head again. “That’s not true. My dad would never do that.”

“Really.” Rikki raised an eyebrow. 

Rikki waited for a comeback, but Cleo went quiet. Eventually walking off in a huff.

“Bit harsh, Rikki,” Cory commented. She didn’t disapprove, but felt it was a bit much. 

“She needed to hear it,” Rikki told her. 

After school, Cory, Rikki and Emma went out for another swim. This time each of them were trying to see how fast they could swim through the water. After a bit, they slowed down and smiled at each other. 

Emma looked towards the surface and noticed something. She pointed it out to Rikki and Cory. They frowned at the sight of a small turtle trapped in a large fishing net attached to what was most likely one of Cleo’s dad’s boats.

The girls nodded to each other. Collectively knowing what they needed to do. Rikki swam up the surface while Cory and Emma made their way over to the turtle to make sure it was okay. Rikki joined them soon with a knife she must have taken from the boat. 

The three of them worked quickly to get the turtle free before the net got pulled up. Rikki was careful not to hurt the turtle while ripping openings in the net. Once Rikki had done so, Cory and Emma helped guide the turtle out. 

Rikki put the knife back as the net got pulled out of the water. Once she got out of sight, the three stayed for a moment. Watching to make sure the turtle got away okay. Once the turtle was gone, the girls started heading back to land. 

“Local fishermen today have been confronted with a possible menace from the deep.” Everyone in the café watched the news intently. “Commercial fishermen have reported incidents that may involve a rogue shark.”

The girls sat around one of the circular tables—each with a knowing expression on their faces.

The camera on TV panned over the docks as the newscaster continued speaking over it. 

“Hey, guys. What’s going on?” Cleo walked in. Sitting down with the others. 

“Hey, Cleo. Your dad’s on TV.” Byron told her. Causing Cleo to turn to the news.

“I’ve fished these waters for a long time, and there’s only one thing that causes damage like that.” Cleo’s dad said to the camera in a serious tone. “A huge rogue shark.”

Three of the girls started looking around. Trying not to look too guilty. 

“Poor Dad!” Cleo frowned.

Rikki spoke first. “Sorry to have to tell you this, Cleo,” Rikki paused and looked around the room to make sure no one was listening. “But your dad didn’t catch a shark. It was a turtle.”

Cleo looked at Cory. Trying to work out if this was some kind of joke she and Rikki we’re playing on her.

“We cut the net to set it free.” Cory finished.

“No way,” Cleo said. Not wanting to think that her dad had been lying to her. “My dad wouldn’t catch turtles.”

Cleo then turned to Emma. Who just sighed. “It’s true, Cleo. I’m sorry.”

Cleo gave each of them another look before looking down in disappointment. Not wanting to believe what had happened.

Cleo rushed out of the café and came back a little while later. Claiming that her dad denied everything.

“I mean, what could I say?” Cleo asked the others as they sat down in one of the booths. “I know you’re lying, Dad, because my mermaid friends saw you fishing close to the nesting beach.”

“He was using illegal nets too,” Rikki told her. 

“It’s true.” Emma said, sadly.”

Cory thought for a second. “Wait a minute,” Cory said. Placing her hand on Cleo’s shoulder. “Rikki, did you see Cleo’s dad on the boat?”

Rikki just shook her head in confusion. 

“Well, I’m just thinking… What if we’re jumping to conclusions?” Cory turned to Cleo. “How can we be sure it was your dad?”

“I mean… yeah, he owns a couple. I’d hear something if he was working on another one.” Cleo shrugged. “I can try and ask him?”

“Cory has a good point.” Emma realised. “I’ve known you and your dad for a long time, Cleo. He doesn’t seem like the criminal type.” 

“Okay. I’ll ask him about it tonight.” Cleo said. A small spark of hope returned to her eyes.

After they were done at the café, Cory, Emma, and Rikki headed down to the fishing docks. They wanted what the other fishermen were planning and how bad their situation was. It almost looked like every fisherman in town was eager for a chance to take the ‘shark’ out.

“Great!” Rikki said. Sounding irritated while she looked around the people sharpening giant fish hooks. “Every fisherman on this side of the planet is getting psyched to catch that stupid shark.”

Suddenly an older man, who was also sharpening a hook, turned to them. 

“Shark?” she asked. Causing the girls to jump back in surprise. “Don’t you girls worry. If it’s still out there, it’s sushi.” He finished. Raising the hook and giving them a creepy smile.

The girls didn’t say anything and moved away from the weird stranger.

“What a circus,” Emma said. Realising the reality of the situation. “They’ll be searching everywhere.”

“Want to risk a swim?” Rikki asked. Not catching on like Emma just yet.

“Didn’t realise you had a death wish, Rikki,” Cory said to her friend. 

“Too dangerous with these guys out there,” Emma told them. “Let’s face it. Until this cools down, we’re grounded.”

“You mean, beached?” Cory joked. Causing Emma to give her a look. “I’ll leave now.“

Cory comically started walking ahead of the other two. While Rikki let out, a small laugh and Emma shook her at the bad joke (with a small smile). 

Cory really did hope that all of this would clear up soon. Not only for their sake but Cleo and her dad’s sake too. 

But it turned out things could clear up a lot sooner than expected—the very next day, in fact.

Cory had been hanging out with Rikki and Emma at Emma’s place when Lewis burst through the door. Vagiung trying to tell them something about Cleo while trying to catch his breath. Eventually getting out that Cleo was in the water.

“At last!” Rikki shouted. 

Cory smiled for a moment but stopped when Lewis started shaking his head. 

“No!” Lewis shouted back. 

“Lewis! Speak!” Rikki told him. “Like a normal person.”

Lewis gave up on trying to tell them what was going on and gestured for them to follow him as he ran out of the house. They followed after him with confused looks on their faces. 

He explained on the way that Cleo went off the chase after one of her dad’s boats. The girls wasted no time getting in the water to chase after her. They were going full speed in the direction Lewis had pointed them to. Hoping to find Cleo and the boat in time. 

They came across it just in time to see that Cleo had gotten caught in the boat’s net and looked to be passed out.

The three of them rushed over as the net started getting pulled back up into the boat. Rikki and Cory began to untangle Cleo from the net. Cory tried thinking of some way to help out with her powers, but everything she thought seemed like it would just make the situation worse.

Getting Cleo out with the net moving upwards proved to be complicated. Emma moved up to the surface. To find a way to stop the mechanism that was pulling up the net with her powers. Once she did so, Rikki and Cory were able to untie Cleo. Cory and Emma took Cleo by the shoulders to pull her to the surface, while Rikki made sure to keep the net out of the way.

Each of them breached the surface and took a moment to catch their breaths. “You okay?” Emma asked Cleo.

“Yeah! I panicked. I didn’t know you could hold your breath for so long.” Cleo gasped. “But then I remembered what you guys said. And you know what?”

They each gave her a confused look. 

“I lost count at sixteen and a half minutes,” Cleo said, with her raised high. 

“I’m so proud of you, Cleo,” Cory told her. 

“Later, guys.” Rikki nodded to the boat. 

The girls dived back under the water and started making their way to their secret part of the beach—each with bright smiles on their faces. 

The next day they all made their way down the same beach. As they walked, Cleo explained how she had told her dad what had been going on and was happy to find that he fired the man immediately after confirming what was going on. 

Due to finding out that Eddie had been fishing in the wrong areas, Cleo’s dad called off the shark hunt. Believing that Eddie had most likely been fishing in shark territory at some point. Causing the sharks to fight back. 

The girls arrived to find Lewis standing over something. 

“Guys! Look! Turtle eyes.” Lewis showed them the small pile on while eggs in the sand. 

They each marvelled at them as Cleo and Cory kneeled down to get a closer look.

“Little turtles are so cute.” Cleo cooed. “I hope they all make it.”

Cory let out a relieved sigh. Knowing that the little guys had one less thing to worry about with Eddie not wandering around anymore.

Lewis smiled at the look on Cleo’s face. “So, you want to show me something?”

“Yes, I do.” Cleo grinned and turned to the others. “Ready?”

Cleo, Emma, Rikki, and Cory all started running towards the shore. Dropping their bags along the way before heading into the sea together. Once their tails appeared, they flipped up above the surface of the water for Lewis to see. 

They swam off into the great blue unknown, without a care in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not a lot going on with Cory this episode, but Party Girls is gonna share a bit more of Cory’s and Ellis’ personal lives. Especially with the introduction of Ellis’ girlfriend, Ava and Cory’s grandpa figure, Edgar.
> 
> Also comments.... please?


End file.
